Belgian artist Kasper Bosmans models his 11 designs on the idea of Mutualism for Delvaux’s spring/summer 2024 offerings
Charles Delvaux is known as the inventor of the modern handbag. A visionary of his time, he anticipated the necessity for women to keep their precious belongings at hand as Belgium became the epicentre of the global travel revolution, with the highest density of rail networks by 1875. He filed the first-ever leather handbag patent in 1908.
The brand remains at the forefront of luxury leather goods two centuries later. It is famous for its emblematic handbag creations, including The Brillant (1958), The Tempête (1967), The Pin (1972) and The Lingot (2022). With over 3,000 designs in its archive, it has earned a well-deserved reputation for its savoir faire, uncompromising craftsmanship and the outstanding quality of its creations—the perfect complement to the modern-day woman.
Over the years, Delvaux has stayed true to its core values while constantly innovating and evolving to adapt to modern times. Modern renditions of its classic hits involve experimentation with surprising new materials, from French wicker sourced from the Loire Valley to the humble felt and softest shearling. Cutting-edge techniques are also executed to perfection. For instance, leather is expertly manipulated to create fluid leather fringes and playful pompons, while brass rivets evoke small D-shaped windows on the body of the Oriel Pin Mini Bucket.
Its latest spring/summer 2024 offerings, presented at Paris Fashion Week, continue to strike a balance between forward-thinking design and Delvaux’s trademark timeless appeal, impeccable craftsmanship, and deep, intrinsic understanding of functional luxury. Delvaux taps Belgian artist Kasper Bosmans to present a collection that initiates a dialogue that blurs the boundaries between product and art.
This move is characteristic of the brand, which has deep ties to the world of art and design, having launched a collection in celebration of surrealist René Magritte’s 125th anniversary and previously collaborated with filmmakers Francesco Carrozzini and Mai Zi, as well as fashion designer Jean Colonna.
Bosmans models his 11 designs on the idea of Mutualism, exploring how the concept permeates every facet of our existence—from the natural world to cultures past and present, as well as his partnership with Delvaux. Stretching the boundaries of the atelier’s savoir faire, he cuts and pastes anecdotes and stories on emblematic designs, resulting in embroidered serpentine creatures on the Cool Box Source and eight mysterious symbols and a dream crest featuring mythical creatures on the Brillant Legend bags.
The technicolour theme persists in the Tempête Chimera, a delicate tapestry of mythic symbiosis.
It makes way for a miraculous selection of exquisite objects made from jacquard, Arsenal leather, and The Brillant Firmament, which is sumptuously printed with a rich emblem of the guiding night sky.
Masterful and meaningful, Delvaux’s latest project with Bosmans is another demonstration of its enduring and ever-evolving legacy, which is gaining worldwide appeal. It comes as no surprise that it has amassed a wealth of clientele in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, necessitating its expansion from its original flagship, Le 27, at 27 Boulevard de Waterloo in Brussels, Belgium, to 60 emblematic addresses around the world, from New Bond Street and Fifth Avenue to the most recent, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.